Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Chris Gayle had all reason to smile broadly after West Indies held on grimly for a draw in the fifth and final Test to secure their first Test series victory over England in 11 years.The West Indies captain was speaking after his side won the five-Test series 1-0, following an innings and 23-run victory in the opening Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica, where they bowled England out for their third-lowest total in Tests of 51.It also meant West Indies regained the Wisden Trophy, symbol of Test supremacy between the two sides, for the first time in nine years."I am happy and overjoyed," Gayle told reporters. "The wins for us have not been coming often. I just want to commend each and everyone for the support they have given me, the character that they have shown individually and collectively."But this result is not only for the team, but all the people of the Caribbean, especially those living overseas, I am sure they are jumping for joy now."

No one could fault the effort of England's bowlers, after their batsmen helped to set West Indies 240 for victory from a minimum of 66 overs.Graeme Swann was the pick of the England bowlers with three wickets for 13 runs from 21 overs, Jimmy Anderson snared three for 24 from 16 overs, and Monty Panesar bagged two for 34 from 19.5 overs.West Indies ran into trouble at 58 for three and then 90 for six before Gayle emerged at No 8 to play a vital innings lasting 42 balls in a seventh wicket partnership with Ramdin spread across 14 overs that helped his side earn the stalemate."The plan was to bat properly," Gayle said. "For the guys to play their natural game and see what happens, but we lost a few wickets, and that meant we had to 'lock shop' and we couldn't look to get the runs at that time."But I had a lot of confidence in the guys. It was pretty tense out there. Batting in situations like this is never easy, and it got a bit scary coming down towards the end."But we had capable batsmen, Ramdin, and Fidel (Edwards) and (Daren) Powell have been in this situation before, so it was nothing new for them. And I was pretty confident that we could do it."

Gayle believes the series victory opens up new possibilities for his side and gives them the confidence to fight greater battles in the future."England are a big side in world cricket - they are ranked above us," he said. "We still have a lot of cricket to play and we are still learning the game every day. But this victory can help us lift our standard a little bit more."It will definitely help us to raise the bar, and we are now looking forward to our next Test series which is in England, where it is going to be tougher, and the conditions will be a bigger test for us over there"Everybody has an understanding of what is required of them, rather than have someone constantly reminding them about how to go about situations," he said."We are looking to not have to chop and change too much, so that we can build up a unit. It has been really, really good, and the guys have put in the hard work, so it has paid off for them out there."The series win was also the first for West Indies in six years over a side above them in the world rankings.